"Sorry for calling you on such short notice, but I wanted us to speak in private before the next week's TAC meeting," All Might stated as he poured himself some tea. As he returned to his seat, he continued with, "I didn't want to interrupt your date more than I already had yesterday."
"It's no problem Yagi-sensei," Midoriya responded with a slight bow of the head.
Izuku received a text during lunch from his idol asking to meet after school. Many thoughts ran through the boy's brain as to what was to be discussed. Did it concern his Air Force Gloves performance? Gentle Criminal? The conversation with Tooru during the festival? All seemed like a high possibility.
"Hagakure-san took everything well it seems," Toshinori said before taking a sip of his hot drink.
With a nod, Midoriya replied, "It surprised me too." He then thought, perhaps she is the subject for today's meeting.
Yagi exhaled before saying, "I told her on Saturday it would be best for you to say what happened. I revealed there had been an incident that you were able to stop, nothing more. From there, we chatted about other subjects."
Izuku gulped before asking, "Like what?"
"Sorry, but I intend to keep my promise of not telling you. Even if you are my successor."
Midoriya sighed but responded with, "I understand."
The former pro hero groaned as he scratched the back of his head. He then said, "Look, I won't be specific, but the rest of our talk was nothing complicated. That was our first one of one conversation since I revealed our secret during the summer. In the end, we also exchanged numbers. Okay?"
Izuku then recalled Tooru speaking privately with his mom during their first date as a couple. Perhaps what was discussed before was similar to now. It also made keeping a secret from his girlfriend nigh impossible, the boy thought. Though, in the end, that was for the better. Midoriya didn't want another fallout like their first day at the dorms.
"That's enough to put me at ease. Thanks."
"Good, now with that out of the way, let's get to the point I brought you here," Toshinori stated as he reached into a pocket in his suit. He then placed two pictures onto the coffee table between them.
One was of Gentle Criminal.
The other Stain.
"Vigilantism. Taking one's justice into their own hands, outside the rules of our current hero system. To some, they are just villains of a different name, and to others, relics of the past. What I want to know is your thoughts on such individuals," All Might explained in a heavy tone.
Izuku didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought too deeply on the subject. There was also the fact that All Might had considered Stain a vigilante. Wasn't he always considered a villain due to his murders? Or was there something about Stain's past that Yagi knew that Midoriya didn't?
All Might noticed the confusion on his student's face and crossed his arms as he said, "Your run-in with both of these individuals had me sit down and reflect on the past and current state of vigilantism. During my time as the Hero of Peace, their numbers certainly fell going from the police and media accounts I witnessed and acquired over the years. Whether this was because of me, or just the general decay of such ideals, I don't have definitive proof. Either way, their actions and how the people viewed them have never really changed."
Toshinori then leaned forward as he continued, "If you recall, we discussed doing things differently from me. Not only to have your own identity but to also be a better hero of peace than I was. I know this is very preliminary, considering you are still early into the hero course, but if given a chance, would you do something about vigilantism? I wanted to know your thoughts on such individuals as it might be something we could strive for or not."
Izuku now better understood why All Might was asking this from him but was no closer to how to answer it. He then remembered what his mentor said yesterday.
Sadly our society views any individuals outside the hero system as villains no matter how good their intentions.
Midoriya then asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what are your views on them, sir?"
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you," All Might answered before taking a large gulp of tea. He then continued with, "I ran into a lot of vigilantes in my career. More often than not, they leaned towards Stain's ideals, justice through the overuse of violence. I captured many of his types, and some are still in Tartarus today. There were however some who were more in the grey area, like Gentle. I kept a close eye on his type and their activities if I could, and if they stepped out of line, I would let the authorities or other pros deal with them."
"So a case by case basis," Izuku stated as he placed a hand on his chin.
"Yes, however, even this approach is very liberal amongst the hero society. It's more black and white to most pros, and I don't blame them. The path of a vigilante is usually of selfish ideals of justice that tiptoes the lines of what's a hero and what's a villain with every action they take. It makes sense why so many fall towards the side that conflicts with the law."
He's not wrong, the boy thought. From what media he had consumed about vigilantes, it was dominated by stories of fallen, wannabe, or misguided would-be heroes. Sure a mysterious masked chivalrous individual would pop up in the news from time to time who was outside the hero system, but the news was always lacking in detail not even knowing if they had done any good. There was so little to go by to make a concrete decision.
"Still puzzled huh, perhaps I was too forward in asking you this," the former pro hero stated before finishing his tea. Before Midoriya could respond, however, Yagi said, "Perhaps my account isn't the best to go off of. I do know of someone who deals with them as his job though. A friend of a friend of sorts. Maybe his insight could be of some help."
Izuku tilted his head as he asked, "Who is he?"
"In due time my boy, I'm giving away classified information telling you about his profession already. I need to sort out if you talking to him is even allowed, let alone if he wants to. So this might not be right away or even happen at all, but he's our best bet at giving both of us more information on this subject. I'll try and pull some strings to make this work."
"Thank you, Yagi-sensei. This is a difficult decision to make at such short notice, so another point of view would be greatly appreciated."
All Might nodded as he stated, "Use this time to gather your thoughts, and maybe do some research on your own." He then stood up and continued with, "In the meantime, continue honing your skills with the Air Force Gloves. I'm sure your friends and even Aizawa-san will be impressed when they see them first-hand next week."
"Yes, sir!"
"Afternoon Midoriya-san," Power Loader stated without turning around from his work.
"Hello sir," Izuku responded as he looked around the workshop but saw no sign of Mei.
Maijima turned his head as he said, "Hatsume-san is in her room napping. Could you go wake her up? She's been sleeping since classes were over."
"I don't want to be a bother. If Hatsume-chan needs her rest, I can always come next week."
Izuku figured she was still exhausted from the festival.
"Hatsume-san has a good friend visiting her today and should greet her guest. Besides, she needs to at least eat dinner before calling it a day."
Midoriya gave a nod before making his way to his friend's room. Just before grabbing the doorknob he froze, and a thought occurred, he hadn't seen Hatsume's place before. Rarely did she ever go into it, and if she did, it was only for a few seconds.
Still, this was Mei. Izuku figured if anyone wouldn't care about the privacy of their room, it was going to be her.
Midoriya still wasn't prepared to see what he was currently seeing after entering.
The room was about the size of a large closet. What was more strange was that the lights were on. The room was mostly Hatsume's bed and a footlocker to his left. The bed, however, was just a mattress on the ground. There were a few thin books on the ground by the mattress, a coat rack in the right corner with a laundry bag at its base, and finally a small shoe cubby to the left of the door. Besides this, there wasn't much to the room, not even a window.
Izuku then shook his head. He needed to wake his friend, not judge her living arrangements. The boy then turned his attention to Mei. She was sound asleep, her back towards her visitor, and tightly wrapped in her blankets. From what he could see, she was wearing her usual black T-shirt.
Midoriya exhaled and then approached the side of the bed before saying, "Hatsume-chan, you need to wake up."
No response.
Izuku repeated it a bit louder.
Still nothing from Mei.
The boy groaned, and reluctantly outstretched his right arm and grabbed the girl's shoulder, and gave a soft shake as he repeated his words once more.
To Midoriya's relief, Hatsume started to stir. After a grunt, she turned over and rubbed her eyes.
Mei groggily stated, "Midoriya-kun? Is it that time already?"
"Yeah, Maijima-sensei asked me to wake you up," Izuku replied as he took a step back.
"Sorry. I wanted to take a quick nap, but I guess the last couple of weeks are starting to catch up to me," Hatsume said while blinking her eyes a few times. She then motioned to get out of her bed but stopped abruptly. Mei lifted her sheets slightly and then sighed.
"Is everything okay?"
After a yawn, Hatsume answered, "I'm not exactly wearing pants at the moment. You probably don't want to be in here as I put some on."
"R-Right. E-Excuse me then," Midoriya stated as he made his exit.
After closing the door, the boy heard Maijiam ask, "She up?"
"She just needs a minute," Izuku replied as calm and collected as he could despite what happened.
"Thanks, Midoriya-san," Power Loader stated before continuing his work.
Midoriya rubbed his temple for a few seconds before walking over to Mei's workbench and placing his backpack on the floor. All things considered, that wasn't too bad, he thought. Still, Izuku was still surprised that Mei acted so calm about it. Sure, he knew she was very open about her personal space but didn't expect it to extend this far.
As he pondered the situation, it wasn't long until Mei emerged from her room. She however immediately went into Power Loader's room.
Maijima then stood up as he said, "She's just getting some coffee." He then picked up his project and carried it over to a cabinet beside Midoriya before saying, "Welp that's done. I'm going to grab some dinner for both of us. You wanna join us?"
"Thanks, but I already promised to try some food from a friend," the boy replied. Aoyama wanted to share some cheese for dinner back at the dorms that his mom had delivered in the morning.
"Suit yourself," Power Loader said with a shrug. He then turned to leave.
"Maijima-sensei, before you go could I ask something about Mei's room."
The pro hero scratched the back of his head and groaned before, "I know. I know. It was Hatsume-san's choice, however."
"What?"
"When I visited her house this summer concerning the U.A. changes, she was adamant that she wanted to bunk in the workshop instead of her assigned dorm with the rest of 1H's student's. I wasn't going to let Hatsume-san live in my place for obvious reasons, and I couldn't just construct a room for her. Somehow she convinced her folks to live in one of my less cluttered storage rooms. Even offered to clean it and reorganize the entire workshop to accommodate all the stuff that had to leave that room," Power Loader explained.
Maijima walked over to his student's workbench and said, "Considering all her tools and inventions are all she cares about are in the workshop itself, she doesn't have much in her room. Wouldn't even let me build a bed frame for her." The man sighed before turning to Midoriya to say, "Trust me; I want to do more for her Midoriya-san, but this is what she wants. She lives and breaths this workshop, for better or worse."
Before Midoriya could respond, Hatsume came out from Maijime's holding a cup of coffee. She made her way over to the guys and cleared her throat, prompting Power Loader to step aside so his student could begin her work. The teacher then sniffed a few times before saying, "Wait, that's my brew."
"Your's was already sitting there. I wasn't in the mood to take the time to brew my usual blend," Mei stated before taking a large gulp of her drink.
"At the very least appreciate its flavor compared to the tar you usually drink," Maijima said before walking away. He then continued with, "I'm grabbing grub, be back in a bit," before closing the sliding door.
"He's in a fun mood this afternoon," Hatsume stated with a grin. She was currently working on some blueprint, but Midoriya couldn't tell what it was as she just started drawing it.
Midoriya waved a hand as he said, "I'm sure his hunger was getting the best of him."
"He can get hangry sometimes, especially during some of the allnighters," Mei stated with a chuckle.
Once his friend finished her laughter, Izuku said, "Sorry about earlier."
"Oh, hush. That was nothing. If anything I should be apologizing, as I almost got up anyways."
Midoriya's face went crimson upon hearing this. As he fumbled to think of how to respond, he went to grab a stool. Once Izuku brought one over and sat down beside Mei, he asked, "What s-stopped you?"
"I thought about what Hagakure-chan would think. I don't want to anger her again like before," Hatsume responded in a serious tone. She then put down her pencil as she continued by saying, "I usually don't care what people think of me outside of my work. It's all just white noise most of the time. Classmates, teachers, and even clients it didn't matter. As long as I put out the results they desired, they moved on."
Izuku recalled Tenya and Ochako's displeasure with working with the pink-haired engineer. It wasn't hard to see why anyone might run into issues with her. Even Power Loader looked to be at his limits with his student at times. Midoriya then pondered, "What made Hagakure different to Hatsume?"
"Is Hagakure-chan still mad at me?"
Izuku shook his head before saying, "Tooru is over it, I think. Any reservation she had with you melted away when I showed her the Air Force Gloves on Sunday."
Mei's sour mood immediately changed to being ecstatic as she said, "And how did my babies perform!?"
Midoriya then explained what he and All Might did in training, and what he briefly showed his girlfriend. Hatsume hung on every detail as if it was gold, and he was happy to see his friend as her usual self.
"It was difficult to test this baby out considering how much energy was needed with such a simple motion, so I'm glad it worked out in the end," Hatsume stated as she draped an arm around the boy.
"And that I wasn't hurt in the process, right?"
Mei slapped her friend's back, which startled him, as said, "You're quite durable Midoriya-kun, so that was never a concern."
"Thanks, I guess."
Hatsume returned to drawing her blueprint, which at this point Midoriya could see was a helmet.
Mei then said, "Regardless if Hagakure-chan has forgiven me, I want you to know I'm sorry that made her feel so uncomfortable." She brought her hands up and turned them over to show her palms. "I got too excited about getting to working on equipment involving such a unique quirk. I wanted to know everything and well..."
"You can be a little too hands-on when you become fixated on a project."
"More than a little, but you're right."
Izuku then placed a hand on the girl's shoulder before asking, "What is the difference this time?"
Hatsume shrugged and then explained, "I don't know exactly. At first, I figured it was because Hagakure-chan is your girlfriend. Another part of me thought maybe it was because Hagakure-chan was trying to help me, and I betrayed that by making her uneasy. That or you're starting to rub off on me."
"Me?"
"Just take the compliment, this is embarrassing enough as is," Mei stated with a grunt. She then said, "Sorry for not apologizing earlier."
"It's fine, you had to deal with the Cultural Festival at the time," Midoriya said, trying to comfort her.
Hatsume though still looked upset though.
Izuku considered his options on what he could do to change the subject once more. Within a few moments, he asked, "So how did your presentation go with the rest of the students and faculty? I only saw it once since I had so much to show Eri-chan that day."
Luckily this uplifted Mei's spirits once more as she explained.
The rest of his visit was spent chatting while Hatsume did light work here and there. Izuku realized the two had never spoken this much before; usually, there was more work to be done, so it was a nice change of pace.
Eventually, Maijima returned with food and Midoriya made his leave to join Aoyama for some dinner.
Izuku walked through another door and looked down the third year's hallway of UA. In the distance stood Mina. She was leaning against the wall beside a small door and was looking at her phone. The girl was wearing black shorts and a T-shirt, with white sweatbands on her head and wrists. The regular classroom doors were usually massive, but this one was normal. This had him wonder, just what kind of room was this?
It was Thursday after dinner, and it was time to start dance lessons the boy had been promised.
"Evening Midoriya-kun," Ashido stated as she noticed Midoriya's approach.
"Hello, and thanks for setting this up for me Ashido-chan."
Mina grinned before saying, "You thank me now but I'm gonna put you through the wringer during these lessons. More so than during your training for the festival. We can't have Hagakure-chan be anything but flabbergasted at your skills of the dance."
Izuku gulped and then said, "Yes, ma'am."
Ashido then opened the door, showing the room was a makeshift dance studio. However, what Midoriya didn't expect to see was Aoyama in the middle of the studio, stretching. He was wearing a light purple long-sleeved shirt that had frills around his wrists, neck, and waist as well as jet black pants.
"Te voilà Midoriya-kun. I only need a few more minutes to warm up before my body is ready," Yuga stated while stretching his back far enough back to see Izuku despite facing away from the new guest.
Izuku scratched his head as he asked, "What's Aoyama-kun doing here?"
"I did promise you to teach you ballroom dancing, but there are many types. I thought it would be better to show you the styles in person than over my phone. Of course, I needed a partner to show you, and Aoyama-kun seemed like the obvious choice. You're both good friends, and out of the guys on the dance team he was the best despite his rocky start," Mina explained as she started to stretch herself.
Yuga cleared his throat before saying, "I've always been an excellent danseur. You can't appreciate my style at all."
"Sure, that exquisite 'style' of yours," Ashido replied with a giggle.
Aoyama puffed his cheeks in protest to the girl's sarcasm but said nothing more on the matter.
"Well regardless, thanks for coming to help Aoyama-kun," Izuku stated as he made his way further in the room to better inspect it.
Yuga gave a thumbs up but continued his stretches in silence.
Midoriya then said, "I didn't know our school had such a place like this."
"It's only temporary. Class 3D used it as an idea for their part in the Cultural Festival, but it didn't pan out so they instead just did a barbeque. They were too lazy to put this away though and lucky for us, I was able to convince their class president to keep it this way until the second term is over," Ashido explained with pride.
Izuku then asked, "How did you pull that off?"
"After my group was done getting our pants scared off, besides Hagakure-chan, at 1C's haunted house, we got the case of the munchies and decided on 3D's delicious meats. When I went to compliment the chef, it turned out to be their class president. It was there I learned of their original plan, and they had made this room into a makeshift dance studio. This used to be a locker room before they rebuilt the gyms years ago to accommodate such things."
Yuga then said, "I prefer that over what we have now. It would mean we would get to walk the halls in our hero suits regularly."
Mina shook her head before saying, "Which would mean having to wait longer to change and shower after practice? No, thank you." She then turned her head to Izuku and asked, "You ready?"
Midoriya looked at the two in front of him and asked, "Am I even properly dressed for this today?" He was only wearing jeans and a long-sleeved dark green shirt.
"No dancing for you today. I want to pick a style you want and receive the first part of my payment," Ashido answered.
Aoyama then asked, "Payment? I thought we were doing this to help Midoriya-kun on the value of friendship alone."
Ashido pointed at Midoriya as she said, "Hey, he agreed to it."
Izuku sighed before saying, "I still don't know what it is, though." Also, the first payment? What did she mean by that?
"Ordures."
Mina groaned before saying, "Speak normal Aoyama-kun."
"It means rubbish," Yuga huffed.
Ashido rubbed her temple as she stated, "Look, you'll both find out soon enough. Let's get this started."
Aoyama gave a halfhearted nod before walking over until he was beside his partner.
"So first, ballroom dancing is split into three major groups: Standard, Latin, and Historical. Historical is a bit too old-timey for most people's tastes, and Standard has you follow the line of dance which complicates things unless you are dancing alone in a large area. So we're going to focus only on types of the Latin dance," Mina explained, while cracking her knuckles and fingers.
"Line of dance?"
Aoyama spoke up and said, "It's a counter-clockwise dance that has you do a large circle around the room. Unless you are in control of the dance floor or with a group doing a synchronized thing, it's not something you would do in a casual setting."
"Yeah, you usually see it more with performances or competitions. This is so you can dance at like a party or on a romantic date on your own," Ashido stated with glee.
Midoriya knew he wasn't a party sort of person but still did like the idea of learning a more casual type of dance.
"First up is Bolero," Mina stated as she grabbed one of Yuga's hands.
The two then did a short demonstration of the style with accompanying music from Ashido's phone. She would then give a brief explanation afterward.
There were eight that the duo performed.
The slow and sensual Bolero. The three-step pattern of the Cha-cha-cha. Jive and it's lifting of knees and the bending or rocking of the hips. Mambo's fast and free form of rhythm. The briskly paced battle of dominance in Pasodoble. The quick-quick-slow step pattern of Rhumba. Samba's steps with a downward action. And finally, the jitterbug of swing.
Once it was all over, Aoyama was on his back and was breathing heavily.
Mina stood over him and asked, "Tired already?"
"That was perfection considering we only practiced that for three nights. Leave me be," Yuga huffed and puffed.
"I don't know. That was a nice warm-up I guess," Ashido teased.
Aoyama wasn't having it and turned to his side, looking away from the girl.
Mina let the exhausted boy be as she asked, "So anything, in particular, catch your eye, Midoriya-kun?"
After a few moments, Izuku answered, "Bolero and Pasodoble."
"Good eye. They both have the same purpose, so I guess it would make sense you would like both."
Midoriya looked confused upon hearing this, but Ashido was quick to explain, "Both are supposed to mimic the fight between a bull and a Toreador. Though the roles are different in each style. With Bolero, the lead can be either gender, and they mimic the Toreador. The follow then alternates between being the Toreador's cape or the bull itself. But with Pasodoble, the man is always the Toreador. The woman is either the bull or cape, but not both."
Puzzled, Izuku asked, "What's a Toreador? I thought Matador was the one who fought bulls?"
Yuga then responded with, "I believe it's Ashido-chan's personal preference. If one fights a bull but never kills it, they are called a Toreador. If the bull is killed, the fighter is then deemed as a Matador." He then got up and said, "You don't want to associate the dance with the violence it represents, am I right?"
Mina sighed and only gave a nod in response.
Midoriya assumed that Aoyama knew since he was from Europe, where the sport was popular.
"Comme tu es pur," Aoyama stated as he walked towards a bottle of water that was near the door.
Ashido's eyes leered as she asked, "Excuse me?"
"I said, how pure you are," Yuga replied before taking a drink.
Mina seemed baffled in how to respond. She then sighed before saying, "So do you want to learn the slow Bolero or fast Pasodoble?"
Izuku liked the slowness of Bolero, but it was much more suggestive than most of the dances the duo performed. Pasodoble's lively energy felt like it would complement Tooru's personality but was way too brisk for him to follow. In the end, the entire point of this was to be a romantic surprise for his girlfriend, so Midoriya answered, "I want to try to learn Bolero."
Ashido looked ecstatic at the response and came over to slap the boy's back before saying, "Look at you being so daring. I'm sure Hagakure-chan will be flattered beyond doubt once we get you up to speed."
"So about this payment," Aoyama inquired with a suspicious glare at the pink-haired girl.
"Oh, that? I want to hear the details behind how Hagakure-chan and Midoriya-kun became a couple. Nothing big," Mina said with a shrug.
Izuku then asked, "Tooru never told you?"
"I mean, she tried. She was going to tell us the night after you two being a thing came out during the summer trip, but you both know how that went."
Yuga then asked, "And you haven't asked about it since?"
"I mean Hagakure-chan had always been deflective any time I asked how she felt about Midoriya-kun. And during lunch that day, she said she'd tell the other girls and me once it was bedtime. Revealing that to me was on her terms. Then everything went to shit that night and once we were back in school it just didn't feel right to ask her again," Mina explained while taking off her sweatbands then grabbing a towel and putting it around her neck.
Midoriya then asked, "So asking me is fine?"
"It's the next best thing. Plus there might be things you might mention that she wouldn't."
"Well, I'm in on this," Aoyama said with a tone of eagerness.
Ashido gave a thumbs up with a grin as she stated, "Sure thing. You helped a lot today, so might as well."
Midoriya sighed. He wasn't against telling her, she was doing him a great service, but two things did concern him. "You're not going to bother her with anything I disclose are you?"
Mina raised a hand as she responded with, "I shall not. Besides, I don't want to cause any trouble between you two."
"I swear to do the same," Yuga stated, but with a hand over his chest.
"None of the guys would care about this though," Ashido said in a confused voice.
Aoyama huffed, "It's about trust between good friends."
Midoriya then stood between the two with his hands raised, "Alright, I believe you both. One more thing though Ashido-chan. What did you mean by this being 'part one' of my payment?"
"Simple. One lesson. One payment."
"But I didn't learn anything today."
"No, but we did learn what style you want to learn. It still counts."
"Okay then, but what are the other 'payments' then?"
"You'll find out in due time."
"Comment Sournois," Yuga stated before groaning.
Ashido shot a glare at Aoyama who quickly looked away from her as he said, "Let's get on with this. Midoriya-kun might have a long tale to tell, and I do not want to be here all night bickering with you Ashido-chan before that."
"Whatever. So anyways, Midoriya-kun let's start at the beginning, when did you two meet?"
Midoriya sat down and leaned back against the wall as he began by saying, "Well, we first encountered each other minutes before the U.A. entrance exam..."
Izuku and Tooru walked into the dorms hand and hand. They were returning from the library, having finished their weekly video chats with their parents.
"I'm gonna go take a nap Izuku, I'll text you when I get up," Hagakure stated before giving her boyfriend a quick peck on the lips. She didn't sleep well last night due to a headache and was already struggling to stay awake while they talked to their folks.
"R-right," Midoriya said as his eyes scanned the room for any classmates.
Koda and Kaminari were chatting in the kitchen, Yaoyorozu was reading by her lonesome, and Uraraka was sprawled out on the couch. A small crowd this afternoon.
Tooru quickly made her way upstairs, but Izuku instead walked on over to Ochako. Once he was behind the couch she was laying on, he asked, "You okay Uraraka-chan?"
The girl in question groaned. Without even opening her eyes, she answered back, "Afternoon Midoriya-kun. I'm fine, just resting from running with Tenya."
"I thought you didn't want him pushing himself too hard, what changed?"
"It was a light exercise, well for him. I forbid him to use his quirk; he uses it enough in class. Of course, even without his engines, Tenya is plenty fast," Uraraka explained with a sigh.
"So he wore you out."
Ochako nodded with a shaky grin on her face. She then opened her eyes and sat up. Izuku then walked around the couch and sat beside her.
Uraraka then asked, "So how did talking with the folks go? Did you show them the video of our performance?"
"Yeah, they loved it, even if Tooru's mom thought the dresses for the girls were a bit too flashy. I'm glad someone recorded it, having to explain the crazy stuff that happened would have taken forever," Midoriya replied with a chuckle.
"Awww, Mrs. Hagakure didn't like our costumes? Well, I guess they did show a lot of leg."
"Not that it matters for Tooru," Izuku said with a shrug.
"Right? Her mom sounds like a handful."
Midoriya scratched the back of his head as he stated, "Tooru has a bigger issue with her mom than I do. I'm sorta used to having a helicopter parent."
"Hmm. Both of mine are pretty free-spirited and supporting anything I do. The only time I rag on them is my dad being a dork around strangers. Though I guess I'm lucky that Tenya finds his behavior as interesting," Uraraka stated with a shrug.
"Well, Ida-kun is a 'dork' too, so it's only natural," Izuku stated with a snicker.
Ochako huffed, "Excuse me, he's a genius with awkward robot tendencies. There's a difference."
The two then had a good laugh.
Once both had stopped, Uraraka said, "I think I'm gonna take a nap. I thought after a shower, I would stay awake, but I'm sorta drifting in and out here."
"Enjoy your rest then, I'll see you at dinner," Izuku said with a thumbs up.
Ochako gave a sleepy nod before heading upstairs.
Midoriya stood up, but before he could leave to head to his room, he heard a voice to his side.
"Midoriya-chan could I have a minute."
Izuku turned to see Koji with no sign of Denki. He asked, "What's up?"
Koda took a seat on the couch before saying, "I'm uh, going to a live band performance with Kaminari-kun and Jiro-chan next Sunday."
"That's great! I'm guessing you want some advice?"
"No, I think I would be able to handle it. It's going to be a small gig and be outdoors, which doesn't seem too scary," Koji said with some confidence in his voice.
Confused, Izuku asked, "Then what's the issue?"
Koda looked around as if making sure the coast was clear, despite the only person nearby being Yaoyorozu who was too far away to hear their conversation. He then sighed before saying, "I think I was invited as an afterthought. So I'm not sure if I want to go and be a burden."
"What makes you think that?"
"Jiro-chan asked Kaminari-kun about it first earlier this week. It wasn't until a few minutes ago that I was told about it," Koji responded while sagging his shoulders. He then paused before saying, "I think Kaminari-kun was just being friendly and tried to get me to come too."
That explained what the two were talking about earlier, Izuku thought. He then said, "So you think he had to convince Jiro-chan the last couple of days to invite you too?"
"Yeah. Especially since it was him, not her, that ended up telling me about it. I don't want to get in b-between them."
It took Midoriya a moment before he understood what was being said. He then asked, "You think they like each other?"
"I'm not sure. Sometimes it's easy, and other times it's not. You and Hagakure-chan weren't difficult for me to guess. Uraraka-chan was very obvious for me, but I guess most people just saw her as good friends with Ida-kun. It took me a while to notice what was going on between Ojiro-chan and..."
In a strained but soft voice, Izuku interrupted Koji by saying, "Wait, you know about that?!"
Koda placed his hands over his mouth. He then said in a muffled voice, "I haven't told anyone I swear."
"When did you notice?"
"After the license exams. Ojiro-chan's eyes tend to wander towards her, but the big hint was the tail wagging. He used to do that when he was very excited at our last school, but it was a common point that people poked fun at him, so he stopped doing it. It wasn't as pronounced as before, but I saw him do it a few times during hero training in these last few months," Koji explained after removing his hands from his face.
Midoriya then pondered, so Ojiro's tail wag during the karaoke night wasn't just a one-time thing. He then shook his head; this was getting off-topic, and then asked, "So what about the last two?"
Koji took a few breaths before explaining with, "Jiro-chan is hard to read sometimes. It's easy to tell what upsets, embarrasses, or humors her but everything else I'm clueless about. I'm not very good with sarcasm, and she uses it a lot while also being blunt too. Kaminari-kun is well, dense. Sure he's very expressive with his emotions which makes him like an open book, but it's difficult to pinpoint if he sees Jiro-chan as a good friend or something more. He treats her just like one of the guys it seems."
Considering how observant Koda was, Midoriya believed in his frustration at the very least. He then brainstormed possible solutions until a thought crossed him.
"Do you like Jiro-chan more than just as friends?"
Koda's quick jump at the statement and beet red blush only confirmed his thoughts.
"Do you need a minute?"
Koji nodded as he said, "Y-Yeah."
While Koda calmed down, Midoriya continued going over his thoughts on the matter.
After a few minutes of silence, Koda stated, "It's a dumb c-crush. I'm sure with time I'll get over it. Let's focus on what's happening next week for now."
"Did this start from the first term's exam?" Considering the footage he saw of their exam, Izuku figured it might have begun there.
"Sorta, I mean it had me look at her in a new light, and things festered over the summer, especially after she was knocked out during the training camp. Then I saw her walking to U.A. during the start of the second term and I c-caved h-hard," Koji explained as he covered his face in shame.
Midoriya placed a hand on his friend's shoulder as she said, "It doesn't sound like this will just go away given time, Koda-kun."
"Perhaps, but there's no way she'd ever want a guy like me."
"You won't know until you ask."
"Please Midoriya-chan, I know you mean well, but the just the simple consideration of asking her o-out is t-too much. Can we focus on next weekend for now?"
Izuku patted Koji's back before saying, "Alright no more on that subject, but I do have something you should consider about Jiro-chan's choices about this live performance.
"What would that be?"
"I'm sure she's been to live concerts before, right?"
"Yeah, Jiro-chan has mentioned them a few times."
"Were they a big event?"
Koda nodded, "Always at some big stadium with a huge crowd."
"I'm guessing you dislike those both."
A pitiful nod from Koji followed.
It made sense to Izuku, considering Koda skipped out on attending the shopping trip the class had after their final exams from the first term. The claustrophobia was a guess, but it turned out to be accurate as well. He then explained, "Have you considered that Jiro-chan chose this particular band cause of your fears that would crop up at what she usually attends?"
"But then why didn't she invite me herself?"
"Perhaps she was waiting to tell you next week. However, Kaminari-kun was well being himself and went ahead and told you about it cause he was overexcited," Izuku said with a shrug. He wouldn't put it past Denki was probably terrible at keeping secrets.
The suggestion seemed to heighten Koda's spirits, though, and he stated, "Perhaps."
"Maybe you should ask her about it at dinner tonight?"
"I'll consider it, thanks again Midoriya-chan."
"I hope you all enjoyed your break from these TAC meetings," All Might stated.
Aizawa sighed and then said, "More so, I hope you all came up with solutions to our concerns from our last session in October."
A multitude of "yes sir/sensei!" echoed throughout gym gamma. Everyone in TAC was suited up and ready to resume their team training.
The homeroom then said, "Good. Well, let's get the easy one out of the way. Ida?"
"Still in progress sensei. I'm hoping to be ready by December."
"Fair enough, you're gonna need it," Eraserhead said with a smirk.
The students gave questionable looks at another at this statement.
"Uraraka-san you're next," the former pro hero stated.
Ochako grabbed Tenya's arm as she said, "We're gonna develop Super Moves to help with my mobility issues."
Izuku imagined the two rocketing around the air tagging villains left and right leaving them helpless. It was a scary combo.
Shota looked intrigued as he said, "I see. Taking what you learned from your time with Ryukyu are we? I look forward to you two develop new techniques." He then looked to Izuku as he said, "Think fast."
A tennis ball was then hurled in the air by All Might, and after a moment of concentration, Midoriya readied his force glove and fired an air bullet. The ball exploded open with great force and flew to the left upon impact. A large pop then echoed throughout the room.
"You weren't kidding All Might," Aizawa stated in surprise.
"It still needs improvement, though. Midoriya-san, you hit it too far to the right," Yagi complained as he went to go retrieve the broken ball.
"Sorry, sensei."
"The hell was that Midoriya-kun," Ojiro said as he began shaking his friend.
"I told you I wanted to show you something cool in the locker room didn't I," Izuku said with a grin.
The rest of the club, beside Tooru, asked about his new equipment in a frenzy.
Eventually, the scene angered Eraserhead enough to proclaim, "Alright we get it! Midoriya-san can answer the rest of your questions after today's session!" He then exhaled loudly before more calmly, asking, "Hagakure-san, please state your solution."
"I have two pieces of equipment in the works that should help Aizawa-sensei, but due to the nature of my quirk it might be some time until they are finished."
Eraserhead groaned as he said, "I'll inquire about the specifics of what they are later. Until then, though I suggest, we have you continue the work you started with Ragdoll and learn to spar better. Ojiro-san should be able to teach you plenty of defensive moves."
All Might cleared his throat before asking, "And speaking of you Ojiro-san, do you mind telling us what you came up with?"
"I'm going to train with Yaoyorozu-chan. She's the weapon specialist of the class, so if I'm going to learn how to better deal with long-range attacks, then she's my best bet in this club. She's already agreed to the training."
"Wonderful, that only leaves you Yaoyorozu-san," Yagi stated.
"As Ida-kun suggested weeks ago, I should create items before a battle to quicken my response time and possibly support the team," Momo said before placing a hand on her exposed stomach. Her lower chest began to glow as she pulled a black bag from it. She then said, "I call it the Lucky Bag! I've only focused on being able to create the bag and simple objects inside of it. Nothing complex as of yet."
All Might gave three short claps before saying. "Excellent, all of you. Now let's refine those ideas or equipment."
Eraserhead then explained, "With that in order let's go over tonight's focus. Ojiro-san and Hagakure-san will be sparring together. Uraraka-san and Ida-san will start developing Super Moves. Yaoyorozu-san I want you to work with All Might to think of a list of objects that would be beneficial for your teammates in most situations. And finally, I'll oversee Midoriya-san's new equipment. For the next few weeks, we will work on these weaknesses of yours. Things might change week to week, for example, next week Ojiro-san will work with Yaoyorozu-san, but the goal will still be the same. Now let's split up."
Aizawa immediately approached Midoriya and motioned him to follow, and the boy did as such. Once the two were far away from the others, the teacher said, "Impressive gloves you have there. They must have helped a lot against the Gentle Criminal."
Izuku gulped, so he knew. He then said, "They did. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to stop him from fleeing."
Shota then stopped and opened the door leading outside.
"Outside?"
"While your aim is quite good despite only having those gloves just over a week, I still don't want any misfires damaging the gym. I can't have Cementoss come every Monday night," Eraserhead said as he held open the door for his student to follow.
They both then exited the gym.
As the two began walking towards an open field, Izuku stated, "Sorry about what happened at the festival."
"On the contrary, I think you did the right thing this time Midoriya-san. You perceived him as a non-lethal threat and wore him down so our security could apprehend him without incident. All the while just receiving a few cuts and bruises. You've come a long way, minus having terrible luck."
"You're not mad at all?"
"I mean at the very least you should have phoned All Might about the situation so we could potentially deal with Gentle before he was able to get onto school grounds. Regardless, the amount of chaos he would have done if we had to close the festival would have been devastating both for the morale of the students and the media against us. It wasn't perfect, but nothing ever is. Just be glad everything worked out in our favor," the homeroom teacher answered. He then stopped in the middle of the field and pulled a remote out of his pocket.
"All Might set this up earlier today, and after seeing your new equipment in action, I think this is the perfect training for you."
Suddenly a popping sound came from Midoriya's left side, and he looked to see a tennis ball flying in the air.
With a cocky grin, Aizawa explained, "A bunch of these machines are hidden in the bushes around this area. I control what direction and what machine will shoot the balls. Let's see how many you can hit accurately before you run out of steam."
"Oh geez," Izuku said before hearing another pop come from far behind him.
"Well you're early," Mina said in surprise as she entered the temporary dance studio. She was wearing the same outfit as last week.
"I'm just excited to get started," Izuku stated. He was wearing green shorts with a white t-shirt.
"Well hold your horses, today I want the payment at the start."
The start? Midoriya wondered, what else did Ashido want? He had already given an account of everything from his first meeting with Hagakure to her confessing to him on the beach during her birthday.
"Tonight I want to hear how you got Hagakure-chan to forgive you for not telling her about you trying to rescue Bakugo-kun. She was quite upset weeks after that, and I want to know how you pulled it off. And unlike last time, I want all the details."
"All of them?"
"All of them!"
Izuku groaned. This meant to understand the full context of everything; he would have to tell Mina about his past with Kacchan. He was reluctant to open old wounds but wanted to impress Tooru more than retelling the scars of the past.
And so after about thirty minutes, Midoriya had given his recount of what happened. From Hagakure coming to his room to learn the whole truth to the gradual mending of their relationship.
"So please, don't be too hard on Kacchan. He's slowly becoming a better person," Izuku said to finish his explanation.
"I see your point, okay. Though I have to agree with Hagakure-chan. If he truly wants to make amends he needs to apologize to you and tell everyone else in our class," Mina said in a pout. She then groaned before saying, "Here let's start practice so I can focus on something else. If I don't, I might melt a wall in frustration."
Izuku gulped before saying, "Yes, ma'am."
Ashido put on her sweatbands as she explained, "Alright so Bolero can be split into five parts: Paseo, Traversa, Differencias, Finales, and Bein Parado. Paseo is the intro as you both come into your dance position. Traversa is the crossing you do in between steps. Differencias is a group of steps to show off-balance and grace between the pair. Finales is the sensual parts of the dance as you cross between another. Finally, Bein Parado is acknowledging the crowd, if you have one, then having a short embrace, and then bowing out."
Midoriya's jaw was ajar upon hearing all this new information, "So intricate. You know stuff like this for every dance?"
"I know the basics of most. Though I still had to do some detailed research for this. I might not have the best grades, but I'm quite passionate about my hobbies," Mina stated with an air pump of her fist. She then walked over to her phone and began clicking away.
"What are you doing?"
"Ballroom dances go with the music. I'm just pulling up the playlist I chose for us to practice on."
"Any specifics about the music that's needed?"
"4/4 time is all; it doesn't even need to be Latin. We take a step on the first beat, hold on the second, and then step on third and fourth. You'll get the hang of it."
Ashido then placed her phone down and said, "But first we're just going to use a metronome so we can get that pattern down." She then offered her right hand to Midoriya.
Izuku took it with his left and Mina quickly pulled him in. Once close together, she raised their grasped hands and placed her opposite behind his armpit.
"Now you do the same to me."
"R-Right," Midoriya stated while slowly copying her position.
"Come on you've been dating a girl for almost half a year. If you stutter and hesitate here before we even begin, we'll be here till we're 2nd years."
"Okay, sorry."
"Good, now play metronome."
Ashido's phone began to play a loud beat at regular intervals. She then dragged the boy around as she said, "One," then paused for a beat before continuing with, "Three, Four."
After the third round, Izuku started to catch on and attempted to do the same. At first, he paused too long on the second step. Then on the fourth, he moved too early, and Mina would step on his toes. However, after about twenty more repetitions, he was starting to follow it well.
A few minutes passed until Mina stated, "Metronome stop." And the phone did as told.
"There, not too hard. Sorry about your feet there. That's going to happen a lot during our first couple of lessons," Ashido stated with a giggle.
"It's okay. It's a good motivator for me to do it right."
"Hopefully that is the same with Hagakure-chan when you teach her this once I feel you're good enough to do this on your own."
Midoriya nodded before saying, "I hope she's as willing to learn as I am."
"I bet she will love to do this with you once she gets the chance. However, if all else fails you can slow dance with Hagakure-chan. Anyone can learn that quickly."
"Slow dance?" There was a dance even slower than Bolero? Was this not a ballroom dance like the others?
"It's not a concern for now. Let's focus on Bolero for now. Let's try doing some Paseos. Then we can combine them with the beat before we start adding some Traversa to the mix."
With confidence, Izuku stated, "I'll do my best to keep up Ashido-chan!"
"Now that's what I want to hear, Midoriya-kun!"
I'm sure you have noticed the new cover art! This was to celebrate Cubicity turning three years old (back on July 23rd). While it has only been on Wattpad for 2.5 years (2.75 on Ao3), it's been that long since it's been posted on FFnet. As another reminder, you can check out the full unedited fic on FFnet or Ao3 as they are up to chapter 41 (Chapter 33 is post season 4 of the anime for those wishing to avoid spoilers). Unfortunately, the way images are uploaded to Wattpad, the Ida (well most of it), and Ojiro dolls of the image got cut out, even if I crop the image to the best of my ability before uploading. Oh well, at least the central pairing is quite visible. You can always check my Twitter/Tumblr for the full image. I commissioned hazel2019 once more to do this piece (first time in color!). The bonus page is a boy's version. I felt the girl version would be a better cover page. ;p
Speaking of commissions, there was another finished since the last release. Izuku's birthday was back on July 15th, so of course, I had some IzuTooru art made for the occasion. This piece was created by VagitisArt (Twitter(NSFW), or VArt on Ko-fi), a good discord friend of mine.
I also posted a new thing, an Iichako Cubicity side story oneshot on the 23rd, Tales of Point Dexter and Cheeks. Though it's now morphed into a short story collection project. I will work on a MashMomo variant in the fall and a 2nd chapter of the former in the winter. Expect a new chapter around every three months. I don't expect everyone to read them (and am not making them ultra important to the main story) but for people that wish to see extra/expanded content for the side ships, there you go.
I wanted to delve more into All Might and Eraserhead's reactions to the Gentle battle. More the former than the latter, but still significant. Also, it was the perfect time to introduce the question of Vigilantism. I adore the Vigilante spinoff and the moral dilemma that they introduce to the hero society. We'll explore more this later in 31 and beyond, don't worry it's not getting shelved for long. And the individual who All Might wants Izuku to meet? I left the answer in something outside the fic itself but don't worry if you don't find it. It will be answered next chapter.
I had a blast writing the first dance training scene. Initially, this was only going to have Mina but the inclusion of Aoyama, once I considered it, seemed like a no brainer to do. I do have a personal question though for you readers. Do I overuse Yuga using French? I feel like I have a nice balance having Mei saying "baby" and "babies," but I think that's less impactful than a foreign language.
Moving on, the last thing I want to discuss is Koda. Yes, he has a crush on Jiro! Though I feel I made that super obvious that I was going this route. This is the first minor ship I'm introducing to the fic. There's one more minor ship I want to do, and it's waaaay out there, but it's not time to reveal that yet. I almost didn't want that known this chapter and would maybe push it off till later, but I eventually said, screw it's been a long time coming. Even then, Koji has a lot more coming before anything gets spicy. :3